World Cafe

10:15 am

Mon September 2, 2013

The Black Keys On World Cafe

Welcome to the first in our weekly Vintage Cafe series of interviews from the archive. Each week we are going to be re-visiting significant session with major artists. For this installment, we bring back our Black Keys session, recorded in December 2011 right before the release of El Camino.

It wasn't the fast lane to success for The Black Keys. In fact, the cover of the band's new album El Camino is a convenient reminder of that. The old, beat-up van featured on the front of the Akron duo's latest record is the actual vehicle the group used to tour in its early days. From then until now, The Black Keys' members have earned countless fans through rigorous touring and a strong body of work in the studio. In 2010, the duo enjoyed a substantial breakthrough with Brothers, which spawned Grammy nominations and the hit single "Tighten Up," which was produced by Brian Burton (a.k.a. Danger Mouse).

The group is the product of two guys, Dan Auerbach on guitars and vocals and Patrick Carney on drums. It'd be easy to complicate the formula, but as El Camino demonstrates, it's not necessary: Its sound is charged, loud, catchy and rife with riffs. Danger Mouse returned to produce the album, and he's the perfect fit.

Here, Auerbach and Carney play live, including "Gold On The Ceiling" and "Lonely Boy," from their new release, and discuss their new-found success, the recording process and the huge influence of radio on their careers.